Poll: 71-Percent Approve of Fox News Presidential Debate Format

More than 70 percent of voters approve of the first GOP primary debate set up, where the top 10 candidates are on a separate debate stage as the other seven candidates, according to a new poll.

In roughly 30 hours, seven GOP presidential candidates will participate in Fox News’ candidate forum at 5 PM Thursday evening, followed by the top ten candidates taking to the prime time debate stage at 9 PM.

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Some conservatives have opposed not having all candidates on one stage. Conservative radio host Bill Bennett previously told Breitbart News, “I would say that most of my audience would prefer to have all the GOP candidates on one stage, at least for the first debate. They don’t think we should be excluding certain candidates this early in the primary.”

“I agree with them,” Bennett told Breitbart News. “At least for the first debate or two, we should give all the candidates a chance to make their case before a national audience. If we do, I think the debate should be at least two hours long.”

However, a new Bloomberg Politics poll shows that 71 percent of people support the debate format chosen by Fox News and the Republican National Committee, while only 24 percent disapprove of the separate debate stages.

The top ten candidates announced using the average of five national polls are:

Donald Trump

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

Ben Carson

Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Rand Paul (R-KY)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

The following candidates have the opportunity to participate in the earlier debate forum at 5 PM eastern Thursday.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum

Carly Fiorina

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Former New York Gov. George Pataki

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore

Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina posted on Facebook her reaction to the announcement by Fox News — including a shout out to Breitbart readers who have supported Fiorina’s campaign.

“I look forward to answering questions on Thursday in Cleveland,” she wrote. “I continue to be encouraged by the support of conservative activists and grassroots Republicans across the country–even just today from the readers of PJMedia and Breitbart. They know we need someone from outside the political class if we want America back in the leadership business.”

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry posted on Twitter following the announcement:

I look forward to being @FoxNews 5pm debate for what will be a serious exchange of ideas & positive solutions to get America back on track.